Olivia Rodrigo finally released her highly-anticipated sophomore album, GUTS, on Sept.8. The real question that everyone is thinking: Could it match the success of her debut album, SOUR?
Olivia Rodrigo started out her career on Disney Channel. Her success slowly built up as she continued on Disney, where people loved the songs that she sang on her show, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. In May of 2021, she released SOUR, which was highly successful, gaining Rodrigo three Grammys.
GUTS is the perfect record that explores topics that many teenage girls of this decade can relate to. Whether she is expressing her feelings about her romantic relationships or her self-esteem, Rodrigo can be counted on for the relatability within her lyrics.
Rodrigo started out by releasing the lead single, “vampire”, at the end of June. Instantly, it blew up on TikTok. It sounded like a typical song from Rodrigo, which felt bittersweet. Expecting something with a newer sound, I was a little underwhelmed upon listening to it for the first time. Regardless, I still enjoyed the song.
Rodrigo has always been very vocal about how she takes great inspiration from all of her favorite artists, which is very evident upon listening to the record. There are major influences from Taylor Swift, Alanis Morissette, Avril Lavigne, Courtney Love, and Fiona Apple. This was evident upon listening to the second single, “bad idea right?”, which was released in August.
Rodrigo crafted the perfect ratio of fun, pop songs to slow, expressive, and emotional ballads. The closing track, “teenage dream”, is Rodrigo at her most vulnerable. In this song, she explores feelings of anxiety over the fear of not being able to top her previous successes. “They all say that it gets better / It gets better the more you grow / Yeah, they all say that it gets better / It gets better, but what if I don’t?” Though the majority of the listeners cannot literally relate to her situation, they still find much solace in the reliability of her lyrics.
After slowly relistening to the record since its release, I started to develop a stronger liking to certain songs.
My personal favorite track, “pretty isn’t pretty”, is reminiscent of her song, “jealousy, jealousy”, from her debut album. The track explores Rodrigo’s struggles with her insecurities about her appearance, something that many teenage girls can relate to. In the chorus she sings, “I could change up my body and change up my face / I could try every lipstick in every shade / But I’d always feel the same ‘cause pretty isn’t pretty enough.”
Though I really did enjoy this record, I still wish that she took a different approach. It’s a little more mature than SOUR, but it sounds pretty similar. Other than that, I find the record a perfect mix of pop songs and ballads that explores the ins and outs of being a teenage girl nowadays. With the instant success of GUTS, Olivia Rodrigo has proved that she is here to stay in the music industry.
